User blog:Embuscade/The Challenge: Cutthroat II (Fantasy Season)
Cutthroat II is the first part of Embuscade's Renaissance Trilogy. Format The format of the season remains heavily unchanged from the first Cutthroat. The challengers are split into three teams— Black, Green, and Yellow— and then compete in a series of challenges, which are followed up by elimination rounds, held in the “Arx”. The first challenge is run individually and is used to determine the three team captains. Those captains then participate in a snake draft to build their teams. The individual scores are then combined to produce a team score, and the team with the best score wins that first challenge. The winning team of each challenge wins immunity from elimination, as well as $25,000 to be deposited in a team bank account. The other two teams participate in a secret ballot to vote in one guy and one girl on their own team to compete in the Arx. Winners in the Arx remain in the game, while losers go home with nothing. Winners in the Arx also get their hands on a new twist: Mayhem. After every elimination, winners will receive a power that has the potential to heavily influence the course of the game. Everyone will be aware of when a Mayhem power is used, but will never be explicitly told who used it. Mayhem powers will be handed out up through the final elimination, so even the Final Challenge can see a major shift. Cast Initial teams | | |} Swapped teams |} Final teams |} Game Progress Episode summary * Cooke and Keith received the majority of votes on the Green Team. However, due to Keith using a power received via Mayhem, Aaron and Melissa were sent to compete in the Arx instead. * Andrea, Hunter, and Natalie received the majority of votes on their respective teams. However, due to Natalie using a power received via Mayhem, Brad, Coral, and Louise were sent to compete in the Arx instead. * Teams were shuffled due to Brad using a power received via Mayhem. * The Yellow team was given absolute power to decide who competed in the Arx for each team due to Keith using a power received via Mayhem. However, the power was overridden by a draw unleased due to Louise also using a power received via Mayhem. * Teams were changed one last time before the Final due to the power Louise chose from the Ultimate Mayhem. Kam was eliminated right before the Final due to the power Robb chose from the Ultimate Mayhem. Arx progress Episode Guide Episode 1 The game starts at the site of the first challenge as TJ welcomes the cast to Italy. Skipping over the format of the game (for now), he explains the first challenge: Gimme Five: Scattered across the playing field are 10 different checkpoints. At each checkpoint is a flag. To get a flag, the corresponding checkpoint has to be completed. Once a flag is obtained, it has to be put on that player’s post before they can complete another checkpoint. The first three people to have five flags on their post win a cash prize of $5,000. However, the challenge will not end until everyone has completed five checkpoints. After the challenge, TJ reveals that this season the Cutthroat format is being reprised, and the winners of the opening challenge will serve as team captains. In the order of which they finished, the captains participated in a snake draft to draft 3 teams of 12. Those teams are: After the draft, TJ revealed that each challenge needed a winning team, and the team that won this challenge was the team to have all its members post 5 flags first. He then announced the Green team had all its members finish first, and they were now immune from elimination. They also won $10,000 to split in a team bank account. Back at the house, the Black and Yellow teams participated in a secret ballot to determine who from both teams would compete in the Arx later that night. The results of the vote: In Arx, TJ introduced the elimination game: Tagging Out: Competitors will put on suits that have 5 tags attached to them- one on each elbow, one between the legs, one on the upper back, and one at the bottom of the pant leg. When the game starts, players enter a ring and must take off each tag from their opponent. After successfully removing a tag, the player must return the tag to their board (which is outside the ring) before attempting to remove another. The first player to hang all 5 of their opponent’s tags on their board wins and stays in the game. The episode ends with Andrea and Dylan entering a hidden room. Episode 2 Things pick up with Andrea and Dylan entering the secret room in the house. In there is a screen with the word “MAYHEM” displayed on it. The screen then switches to say “SPLIT” and below it, a description: The next day, teams gather to compete in the next challenge: Vertically Challenged: Teams compete in co-ed pairs to climb a rope suspended above water. The further up the rope the pair can climb, the more time gets taken off of their final time. Once the pair falls, they are time to swim back to shore and ring a bell to stop the clock. The team with the best average net time (Time taken to swim to the bell minus time gained from rope climb) will win the challenge. Back at the house, the Black and Green teams participate in the secret ballot to determine those playing in the Arx. The result of the vote: And at the Arx, TJ introduced the next elimination game: Powerhouse: Players must turn a turnstile to lift a pile of bricks covering 5 lights. The more they turn the turnstile, the more resistance is added to their opponent. The first person to lift the bricks high enough to reveal all five of their lights wins and stays in the game. As everyone returns to the house, Adam and Da'Vonne make their way to the hidden room. The episode ends with the two receiveing their power. The power displayed on the screen this time: Episode 3 The teams compete in the next challenge: Let the Good Times Roll: With one team member competing at a time, players will start inside of a spinning claw-like structure. Players must stay in the claw for as long as possible before falling in the water. As time progresses, the claw will start to open, making it harder for players to stay above water. A player’s time stops when they fall into the water, and the team with the highest average time wins the challenge Back at the house, the Green and Yellow teams partake in another round of voting. Results: At the Arx, TJ announces the next elimination game: High Strung: Player start at the bottom of a knotted rope hanging from the top of the Arx. Players must navigate up the rope while untangling all the knots, and then ring a bell at the top. The first player to ring their bell wins and remains in the game. Back at the house, Keith and Natalie enter the Mayhem room to receive their power... ...and the episode ends. Episode 4 We pick things back up at the site of the next challenge: Nice Knowing You: Before the start of the challenge, players were given an extensive survey to complete in private. Then, starting on different ends of a large circular maze, players must navigate to the center by answering the same survey questions, but based on the answers of their teammates. Right answers will lead closer to the center, while wrong answers lead to dead ends. Once a team’s last player reaches the center the must ring a bell to stop their time. The team with the shortest time will win the challenge. After the Black & Green teams undergo the next round of voting, it is revealed the next Arx participants are: At the Arx, TJ introduces the newest elimination game: Lighten Up: Facing opposite sides of a tall wall, players are given thirty minutes to flip as many switches on the wall as possible. The wall is five stories tall, and players are only given a very unstable ladder to move between stories. At the end of thirty minutes, lights will come on to indicate who last flipped its corresponding switch. The player with the most lights will win the elimination round and stay in the game. The episode concludes with Melissa and Shane entering the hidden room. Episode 5 Things start off in the Mayhem room, where that night's elimination winners, Melissa and Shane, receive their power: The next day, teams compete in the next challenge: Swan Dive: Starting at the roof of a building and competing in pairs, team members must bungee down to the ground floor trying to get a look of an image displayed on another nearby building. Using blocks, the pair has to try to recreate as much of the image as possible and travel back up to the roof to tag in the next pair. The team that can successfully recreate the image in the shortest amount of time will win the challenge. Before voting for the Arx began, Shane is seen entering the Mayhem room, wanting to redeem his Expose power, and selects Hunter, Kam, Nany, Natalie, and Thomas to have their votes broadcasted to the rest of the house. The final results of the voting were as follows: And in the Arx, TJ announced the next game: Put a Ring On It: Hanging upside down from a zipline at the top of the Arx, players must use a horizontal ladder race to the center to grab a ring then place it on a post on the opposite side of the Arx. The first player to place the ring on their post twice wins the elimination and stays in the game. We get to the results of the male matchup... ...but the episode ends during the female matchup. Episode 6 The episode starts with Ashley and Katrina facing off in "Put a Ring On It". The final results of the elimination: Adam and Katrina, as the victors in the Arx, enter the Mayhem room and receive a new power: Teams then meet for the following challenge. Blending In: Team members must take turns drinking mixtures of randomly selected ingredients (some good, some bad). If a team’s representative is the first person to finish their drink gets to eliminate any player on either the other two teams. The last team standing wins the challenge. Before voting, Keith is seen entering the Mayhem room to bring the Protect power into play. As a result, the following players were secretly given immunity from the Arx for the round: And later, Adam enters the Mayhem room to unleash the Double power, giving extra votes to: Finally, the Black and Green teams go through another round of Arx voting, of which the results are: In the Arx, the competitors are reintroduced to "Powerhouse". Powerhouse: Players must turn a turnstile to lift a pile of bricks covering 5 lights. The more they turn the turnstile, the more resistance is added to their opponent. The first person to lift the bricks high enough to reveal all five of their lights wins and stays in the game. And the outcome as follows: Later that night, Aaron and Louise enter the Mayhem room to get their hands on the newest power: Episode 7 Later during the night following the previous elimination, Louise is seen re-entering the Mayhem room, triggering a Purge for the next challenge. At the next challenge, the rest of the house is shocked when TJ announces "Dusk Till Dawn": Dusk Till Dawn: Players have from sunset to sunrise to complete as many laps of a course as possible. The course consists of running a quarter mile, swimming 300 feet, and a two-mile bike ride. Upon completing a lap, players must ring a bell before starting their next lap. The two men and women who log the least amount of laps will be immediately eliminated from the game, while the team that logs the highest number of laps (not including laps logged by eliminated players) will win the challenge. Episode 8 TJ announces that even though four people were just taken out of the game, the challenge still needed a winning team and that Arx voting would proceed as usual. Before Arx voting, Natalie entered the Mayhem room, looking to employ her Protect power, and gave the following immunity from the Arx for the round: The Black and Yellow teams then participated in another round of voting. In the Arx, TJ explains the rules again for "Tagging Out": Tagging Out: Competitors will put on suits that have 5 tags attached to them- one on each elbow, one between the legs, one on the upper back, and one at the bottom of the pant leg. When the game starts, players enter a ring and must take off each tag from their opponent. After successfully removing a tag, the player must return the tag to their board (which is outside the ring) before attempting to remove another. The first player to hang all 5 of their opponent’s tags on their board wins and stays in the game. Results: Category:Blog posts